‘Daddy just shot someone’: Raynham police officer recalls life-changing call
Although Raynham police officers acted legally when they fatally shot a man outside his apartment in April, Raynham Sergeant Frank Pacheco is still grappling each morning with the knowledge that he took a life.
"Your whole life's changed," Pacheco said in a mini series called "On the line." "Like you live with that for the rest of your life."
Officers were sent to Stephen Maclean 's apartment at 501 King Phillip St. at 11:49 a.m. on April 30. Maclean had been arrested the day prior for harassing a neighbor and was released following his arraignment. On April 30, police learned Maclean had continued to harass the neighbor and attempted to take him into custody, according to a report produced by Quinn's office .
Police arrived to the apartment complex where Maclean lived just before noon and knocked on his apartment door. When an officer attempted to open the door, Maclean slammed it closed, prompting police to begin to try to talk him out of his apartment.
Pacheco recalled the apartment hallways being small with "nowhere to really go," forcing him to stand directly in front of the door.
Later, "without warning," Maclean opened the apartment door with a black semiautomatic pistol in his hand . He then pointed the gun at an officer standing in front of him, prompting one officer to fire a taser and Pacheco and Officer Jennifer Lang to fire their guns, according to the report.
"I couldn't believe that Frank wasn't hit," Lang recalled, adding that she made him check himself.
Maclean was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead at 1:24 p.m.
'What's my life going to be like after this?'
Following the shooting, Pacheco's mind was racing.
His first priority was not dying. Even though he thought he made the right choice by shooting Maclean, he began fearing for the worst and questioning what he had seen.
"What's my life going to be like after this," he remembered thinking.
He knew he'd have to explain what happened to his wife but he also wanted to explain it to his children, who might hear about it at school.
But how?
"Daddy just shot someone," he said during the mini series interview, adding that "it sucks" and wiping away tears.
This part of the job isn't powerful or cool, he continued.
"People don't get it," he said.
The district attorney's report determined responding officers had a "reasonable fear for their own safety and the safety of their fellow officers" and had probable cause to arrest him for witness intimidation.
When Maclean stepped out of his apartment, "the threat of deadly force ... was immediately apparent and imminent" and officers had no opportunity to de-escalate the situation, the report concluded. Officers used "only the amount of force necessary to neutralize the threat" Maclean posed in the moment, and once it became clear he had dropped the gun, officers stopped firing.
Body-camera video "confirms the officer's statements that it was Mr. Maclean's unprovoked and violent actions that required the Raynham officers to respond with deadly force," the report reads. "Based on a review of all of the facts and circumstances related to this incident, there is no basis to conclude that the responding police officers committed a crime. The fatal shooting of Stephen Maclean was justified."
But that report didn't end the pain.
Getting peer support
Pacheco began attending Critical Incident Stress Management's (CISM) peer support group.
It was during those sessions that Pacheco learned how to deal with the aftermath.
For most of Raynham Police Chief David LaPlante's career, police officers went to horrible crime scenes and then were forced to simply move on to the next one. Mental health wasn't a priority.
"It's OK for an officer to go through tough times," he said, adding that it's his job to make sure his officers know they can ask for help.
When CISM started in 2016, it was still considered a joke, police officers recalled. But over time, it has become accepted.
Now, police departments in Massachusetts can employ emergency service providers who are certified by the Massachusetts Peer Support Network or International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc., to provide services to first responders in the aftermath of traumatic events.
In 2023, $792,371.13 was given to 11 municipal police departments by the Healey-Driscoll Administration to provide these services to first responders. It was the first time that funds were awarded through the Critical Incident Stress Management Grant Program.
"The impacts of post-traumatic stress are well documented and can have an immeasurable toll on emergency responders. We owe it to our first responders to ensure that they have the mental health services and resources in place to support their health and wellbeing after they experience trauma in the line of duty. Our communities are stronger and safer as a result of access to essential critical incident stress management services," said Gov. Maura Healey.
As part of this, a $197,050 grant was provided to the South Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (SEMLEC), which serves 30 municipalities and one public university police department. This includes the Raynham Police Department.
When Pacheco got out of the hospital following the shooting, the peer support group already had a plan for him. Knowing he had this kind of support helped him have faith he could move forward.
"Having that tool, having the knowledge and resources is one part that I think is very, very important," Pacheco said.
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